“No. It was a spur-of-the moment thing. Ellory and I have a tradition...” She shifted the animal on her lap. “Never mind. Anyway, she didn’t think I could see it through to the end, thought I’d get stuck part way through.”
“Really? It looks like you’re doing pretty damn well to me.” Good. Anger. At least that was an emotion he was well acquainted with. He grabbed it with both hands. “Exactly when were you planning on telling me about it?”
Mira’s teeth came down on her lip.
Ah, so she hadn’t planned on telling him at all. “Were you going to tell any of them?”
“No.” The word came out as a whisper.
The thought of her parading around with three or four more men while he was still at the resort made his gut roll around inside him, although he wasn’t sure why he cared. Probably just part of his male pride. As much as he didn’t want to get involved with anyone on a permanent basis—in that, he and Mira were definitely alike—he also hadn’t liked the way her ex had said he wanted to talk to her.
He wondered what the man thought about what Mira was doing. Robert evidently knew about it, had actually called him by a damned number rather than by his name.
And that just made his anger burn brighter. Hotter.
“So it was okay for your ex-fiancé to know and get a couple of good chuckles out of it. I’m surprised you didn’t give each of us a hand stamp. A kind of one-day pass into your magic kingdom.”
She stood, dropping the stuffed cat onto the bed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that. It wasn’t a joke. At least, not to me. I was trying to avoid being hurt again. Trying not to repeat the same mistakes.”
Isn’t that what he’d done—avoided getting involved with anyone to keep from losing them? But he hadn’t decided to go out with a million different women in order to achieve that goal. He’d avoided going out with any of them, for the most part.
“So how does your ex know about any of this?”
She shrugged. “I think he heard me talking to Ellory about it at the bar one day.”
“He wants you back, you know.”
“He doesn’t. Not really. He only thinks he does now that he can’t have me.” Her chin went up. “Remember that lady who came on to you? She and Robert are well acquainted.”
That made him blink. Her ex had been with that bimbo? “You know that for a fact?”
“I didn’t see them going at it, if that’s what you mean. One of the female instructors saw them making out in a supply shed. When I confronted him, he admitted to it. And then I found out there were others—some of them his students.” Her eyes swam for a second before she forced back the remembered humiliation of breaking off their engagement amid the swirling rumors.
“Bastard.”
“That goes without saying.” She gave a hard smile. “But it’s happened to me with more than one man. Since I seem incapable of telling the good guys from the bad, I figured it would be better if I stuck to ‘shallow and meaningless’ when it comes to dating. This year was supposed to show me how that’s done.”
It didn’t make him feel any better that she lumped him into the shallow and meaningless category. “So, I’m man number five.”
“Don’t call yourself that.”
“That’s what you called me, isn’t it? And your friend. And your ex.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
He picked up a hat on the table, the pink one she wore when out on the snow. “Are you going to date other men over the next couple of weeks? While I’m still here?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I pick up a new guy every night.”
No, but he doubted she had a lot of trouble attracting them. The woman was gorgeous. And smart. And her ex was an asshole above all others.
He suddenly knew what he was going to do.
“What if I asked you to stick to me for the remainder of my stay?” He wasn’t sure why, but if she was going to have random dates with random men, then he wanted to be the guy she went out with more than once. More than twice.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
He set her hat down then moved toward her, sliding his hands along her cheeks and easing her face up. “I want you to date me. Just a group of outings, nothing serious. You can show me the sights—when you’re not on duty, of course. I’ll get the vacation my coach was looking for, and you’ll get a man who’s not interested in passing anything but the time.”
The words tasted bitter on his tongue as they passed over it, as if he were asking her to be a paid escort or something. He wasn’t.
But he couldn’t promise her any more than that. They were from different worlds. His wife had left a thriving practice to be with him. He’d taken her not only from the children she’d treated in California but from every sick kid who might have come under her care in the future.
He would never ask that of anyone again.
“Why would you want to do that?” Mira asked.
“For exactly the reasons I mentioned.”
“You’re not mad about the whole number thing?”
He wouldn’t go so far as to say that. “It’s not what I expected but, then again, not much in this life is.”
“Remind me how long you’ll be here.”
He calculated the days in his head. “I have to go back in a little less than two weeks.” And why did his stay suddenly seem far too short?
Because the trip was working?
Or because he was an idiot?
She paused for several seconds and stared just beyond his face as if doing some heavy thinking. “These wouldn’t be real dates. Just going around together and seeing the sights.”
Letting go of her, he nodded. “If that’s how you prefer to think of it, I’m okay with that.” He caught her eye. “But you can’t move on to number six until after I’m gone.”
“Okay.” She stepped closer and touched his arm. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. You weren’t just a number last night.”
The words went a long way toward soothing his bruised pride. “For what it’s worth, neither were you.”
And that was exactly what he was afraid of. His strange dream came back to him in all its horrifying detail. The fact that Mira’s face had been the one he’d seen in that coffin seemed like a clear warning: This is what could happen if you allow yourself to get too involved.
Rational or not, it was the truth.
So what was he doing here, asking her to see him exclusively? Exactly what he’d said. It was time he poked his head back out into the world. Last night had at least shown him that much. He’d had a genuinely good time. And his reasons for sleeping with her hadn’t been a whole lot purer than hers had been. He’d been upset by that death up on the slope, and so he’d turned to her in order to escape for a few hours. Wasn’t that was she was doing? Trying to escape a painful situation?
He could act all holier than thou about her resolution, but the reality was right there in front of him.
“So. If we’re going to do this, what would you like to see first?”
How about what was under those clothes?
He wasn’t going to say it, even if it was what he was thinking. And he already knew what she looked like naked. It seemed that having her last night had not quenched his thirst. In